


The Deep Blue

by Anniss



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Brothers, Exploring, Gen, Human Names Used, Magic, OCs used to tie story together, Scandinavian trio, Tags May Change, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 04:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2837357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anniss/pseuds/Anniss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something told Lukas that what they were about to do was very stupid. Very, very stupid. How Mathias had managed to get him to join them was still beyond him, and he found no explanation as he swam towards where they had agreed to meet. They had to meet somewhere away from the colony, because when the three of them gathered, everyone thought they would be up to no good. Which, of course, was not too far from the truth. They usually blew a thing or two up each time they gathered for more than five minutes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Black Pearl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't yet decided how long this story will be, but we'll see!  
> Hope you stick with me till the end! ^^ 
> 
> Lukas = Norway  
> Mathias = Denmark  
> Berwald = Sweden

Something told Lukas that what they were about to do was very stupid. Very, very stupid. How Mathias had managed to get him to join them was still beyond him, and he found no explanation as he swam towards where they had agreed to meet. They had to meet somewhere away from the colony, because when the three of them gathered, everyone thought they would be up to no good. Which, of course, was not too far from the truth. They usually blew a thing or two up each time they gathered for more than five minutes.

 

Mathias voice reached Lukas before he could even see him or Berwald. “Dude, you’re so late! Get over here!” Mathias voice reached him, and Lukas could feel the excitement and slight irritation bound with the words. “I’m on my way. Why are we doing this again?” Lukas questioned. Not that he did not know, but he was not sure Mathias knew himself. “Were going to get the black pearl back from the grumpy, old eel of course! That ancient, nasty fish have been sitting on it for way too long! I bet it even have more treasures down in its hole!” Mathias sent out to him again, just before Lukas rounded a huge rock, and saw the two of them. Berwald raised his hand in a short wave, with a look of boredom plastered on his face. Lukas could see the glint of excitement in his eyes, however. Not even the usually silent and strong Berwald could hide all traces of excitement, when they were about to go on another epic adventure. Mathias sent him a huge grin, displaying his pointy teeth. Lukas just rolled his eyes, and swam closer to them.

 

After some briefing, and Lukas and Berwald shooting down Mathias’ more crazy ideas, the three mermen began swimming towards their destination. The eel’s burrow was deep within a rift in the stone bottom, and it was hard to find it in the darkness. Lucky for them, Lukas had several glow orbs ready, and the three of them were naturally better at seeing in the dark than most. They all concluded that they had northern ancestors. “If we find any other treasure, that’s free to grab too, right?” Mathias sent to the both of them. Point was, merpeople did not speak by opening their mouth and gurgling out sounds, but rather through and telepathic link. This made them able to send pictures and emotions as well, but it also made enemies able to pry into their minds and cause havoc, which was why they needed training in putting up mental walls. It was quite complex, but they had been training since they were hatchlings, so it felt natural to them. Berwald just replied with a nod, and then they both looked over at Lukas. “As long as it isn’t cursed, and we don’t begin fighting over it. We split it fairly once we get out. Deal?”

The other two nodded in agreement, before they dived into the rift.

 

The plan was simple. They would hang out by Cranky’s, which is what they called the eel between themselves, home, and wait for the eel to leave. It usually went out hunting for food during the night, when its camouflage worked best. Then they would slip into its home, and find the pearl, before making a quick escape. Hopefully it would not end up in a fight, because the eel easily got enraged, and it was a reason to why it had lived so long. Merpeople, who was so unfortunate to be caught off guard by it, either did not return or sported a plethora of scars. Age had slowed the eel down, but it was still an intimidating enemy. They had left home way before sunset to get to their hiding spots, and then they played the waiting game.

 

It turned out to be quite the waiting game. “When is it coming out? Maybe it died. Or what if it’s outside already?” Mathias kept on with his tirade of questions, which both Lukas and Berwald tried to ignore. Mathias was both nervous and restless, but knew that he could not move, lest he wished to be mauled if the eel decided it was time to shine. However, Mathias calmed down when they heard the scraping of shells against stone, and something approaching the entrance of the hole.

 

The eel was so large, it made even Berwald feel small as it swam past them. They had placed themselves at different sides of the opening. Lukas, being at its left side, could see how its eye did not move, and had a healing wound going straight over it. The eye also seemed malformed when he took a closer look. His heart skipped a beat when the eel stopped, not even fully emerged from its home. Lukas did not even dare breathe, and his heartbeats sounded so loud that the eel should be able to hear him.

 

Then the moment was over, and the monstrosity was on its way up and out of the rift. They waited for what felt like a small eternity, before Berwald came swimming towards Lukas, who was still frozen in place. He quickly snapped out of it, however, and followed Berwald into the cave. Mathias was already checking out the roughly carved walls. “I wondered if Cranky did this himself. If he didn’t then what did? It sure as hell doesn’t seem natural”, Mathias said with wonder in his voice. Things people found scary seemed to fascinate him, and the two others had to agree that it was interesting, but they were not as loud about it. Berwald poked Lukas in the side with an elbow, and Lukas looked over at him. Berwald pointed at one of the pouches on his belt. Oh right, it was going to get too dark to see very quickly. He had already had some troubles with seeing Cranky properly earlier. He pulled out three orbs that looked like gemstones, but they were much softer than any rock Lukas had seen. “Catch”, he said to Mathias, before he threw one of the orbs at him. He gave one to Berwald, and kept one for himself. Right now, they looked like bubbles, but as soon as Lukas began shaking his, something inside it began lighting up.  “Nice colour Berwald!” Mathias snickered, and sent them both a picture of Berwald, as he studied his orb, which was bright purple. “Yours isn’t much better”, Berwald sniped back, and lifted an eyebrow. Mathias’ was bright red, almost pink. Lukas’ was luckily just a green shade of yellow. He held it between his teeth, careful not to puncture it, as they sped up to reach the bottom. They could never be certain when it would return, and Lukas only had that many orbs. Getting out of here without them would be very difficult, especially with a predator that could sense them much better than they could sense it, and with profound knowledge of the place. “Stop worrying so much Lukas! We have more than enough time to get our stuff and get out before Cranky comes back!” Mathias said, and both he and Berwald were looking at him. Lukas just frowned even deeper, and shook his head. “I would prefer not being turned into eel food.” Mathias just laughed.

 

The further they had to swim, the more nervous they became. The burrow was almost linear, with very few hiding spots. Should the eel return from its hunt prematurely, it would not end well for the three of them. They were carrying their weapons, so they could fight, but it would still be very dangerous. They were still under training, and even if Mathias and Berwald excelled in class, and Lukas was one of the fastest, if not the fastest, of their tribe, they were not ready for this enemy.

 

Lukas was contemplating on convincing them to turn around, when Berwald saw it. It was weird, because Berwald was usually near-sighted, but Lukas guessed it did not matter in this darkness, where they could not see very far anyway. Both he and Mathias acknowledged it, and all three of them swam the last bit to the bottom. At the bottom was not what they looked for, it was a necklace of some sort, so Lukas picked it up and inspected it, while the other two searched the rest of the bottom cave. The den of the eel was bigger than the rest of the tunnel, and this one actually had nooks and fissures to hide both themselves and the pearl they were looking for. The pearl was a dark grey colour, with threads of white dancing through it. It held huge value for all merpeople, as it was said to hold magical abilities. No merpeople were actually born with magic, but they could utilize magical items and beings. No one had magic seeping through their veins. Except Lukas.

 

As Lukas fidgeted with the necklace, Mathias and Berwald searched for the pearl. Lukas was standing guard, and listening for when the eel would return. He could at least try, right? Mathias and Berwald discovered a great amount of things, but none was the pearl. “What if someone was here before us, and got the pearl?” Mathias asked them, with growing nervousness in his voice. “Not likely. Were stupid enough to try in the first place. Why would anyone else?” Berwald tried to reassure Mathias. Lukas could see the logic in Berwald’s words, but logic did not work very well on Mathias, who began searching faster. “Don’t rush it. We do not need that you miss it by accident, because you did not take the time to look well enough”, Lukas hissed at Mathias, and it worked partially. Lukas also began looking around, because the less time they spent in here, the better. The bones of various animals did nothing to lighten the mood, and was actually somewhat creepy. “Hey, have you checked those ledges up there? Those skulls seem capable of holding the pearl.” He called out to the both of them. “On it”, Berwald called back, and swam up to check them. Mathias kept on searching the crevices littered in the bottom. He sent disgust, and pictures of tiny skeletons that had managed to float into these crevices. However, he also found some interesting things, like some kind of illuminative stone, and a knife.

 

“Ah. Found it”, Berwald told them, and then he sent a picture of the skull of some sort of monster that had most likely been bigger than Berwald himself. The pearl, which was a bit smaller than Lukas thought, was inside the skull. Was the eel really smart enough to hide its valuables, or had the pearl just wandered there by accident? “Get it, and let’s get out!” Mathias exclaimed, and hurried up to Berwald. It did not take long before they had it, and swam over to Lukas. Lukas took it out of Berwald’s hand, and the buzzing that went through his arms shocked him for a moment. He blamed it on the pearl’s magical abilities, and tucked it away safely in the front pocket of his belt. Then the three of them were off.

 

“Did you hear it, or sense it in any way?” Mathias asked Lukas nervously as they raced for the exit. “No”, Lukas ensured him, but he had not completely convinced himself. The necklace he now wore around his neck, as he had no better place to keep it, had distracted him. His doubt had seemed to seep over to them through the mental link they share, and that did nothing to help. The three of them furrowed their brows, and tried to swim faster.

 

They had just reached the entrance, when they saw the eel. Lukas flared his fins in shock and fear, and the three of them got out of the hole. This did not help, however, as the eel had spotted them. Lukas tried to drag his brothers with him to a rift where they could get away from the eel, but it was fast. Too fast for them to be able to reach it. Lukas would barely be able to reach it on his own, but he refused to leave the other two behind. He turned around, and faced the eel. He pulled his two daggers from their sheets, and readied himself for the eel. “What the hell are you doing!?” Mathias screamed at him. Lukas quickly fished out the pearl, and threw it at Mathias. “I’ll distract it, I’m fast enough. You two get away, and I’ll come after you.” Mathias tried to protest, but Berwald pulled him away. Outmatching the eel in speed would be hard, but Lukas was hopefully more agile than it was, and could dodge its attacks. To ensure that it went after him and not his the other two, Lukas swam towards it, teeth bared, and with his knives ready.

 

The clash between them was more Lukas trying not to be eaten, and the eel snapping its jaws shut where Lukas had been seconds before. Lukas could barely register how his brothers were on their way up, and had sneaked past the eel. As the eel spun around, and prepared another attack, Lukas decided that he would make his grand escape as soon as his brothers were out of the rift. This turned out to be difficult, as the eel tried to herd him toward its home, to trap him on home ground. Lukas refused to let this happen, however, and slashed at the damn beast, as it tried to chomp him another time. The slash did not do much but cause a minor cut to the eel, and enrage it further. Its attacks became more erratic, so Lukas had to shut out the other two, who were now halfway to the top. The eel grazed his tail, which caused one of his fins to tear. Lukas bit his lip so hard he could taste his own blood, but continued fighting. He had managed to get away from its home, but it was constantly herding him, trying to make escaping impossible. Lukas could not rely on his own attacks, as they were not strong enough to harm the eel seriously, but they could keep it off.

 

Lukas was just about to slash at it another time, when it whipped around, and dodged his attacks. This shocked Lukas for a moment too long. Before he knew it, he felt an intense pain shoot up his arm, and he had to let go of one of his daggers. It sank helplessly to the seafloor, and Lukas desperately tried to swim away from the predator. He could not fight it with just one hand, and he had to use that hand to keep his other one close to his chest. The eel came after him, with its mouth open and ready to tear him apart if it caught him. Lukas was headed right towards something that looked like a rift big enough for him to fit, but not the eel. The eel’s dodge had created an opening for Lukas to get away from its constant herding, and he had to grab it.

 

The eel was in hot pursuit, and was closing in on Lukas a lot faster than he wished it would. Lukas would make, though. He had to. He was so close, so he reached out for the rift, even if it meant the pain in his arm would return.

 

His claws scraped the rock when the eel caught him. It caught his upper tail fin, and threw him backwards. Lukas could not do anything, when the eel tossed him back towards its den. He did not notice the pressure that was building up behind his eyes. He flew through the water, and he suddenly felt drained for energy. He had already accepted his fate when the eel came towards him, mouth wide open, ready to eat him. He hoped his brothers were far away by now, as they should never have to see what would remain of him when the eel was done, if there would be anything left at all. The pressure in his cranium was now tearing down his mental walls, but Lukas could care less. He was done for either way.

 

When the eel closed its teeth around his torso, he felt an eruption of pain, but the pressure behind his eyes spiked. When the eel pressed its jaws together, in attempt to break his ribs, the pressure released in an explosion.

 

Lukas really wished he could scream underwater. Then everything whitened, and Lukas fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not all chapters will follow Lukas' POV (For example next one will be either Berwald or Mathias)!  
> Hope you understood what I wrote, and if you wonder about anything, just ask!


	2. Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As mentioned earlier, this chapter is from Berwald's POV!
> 
> New characters:  
> Ludwig = Germany  
> Elizabeta = Hungary
> 
> Warning! Some blood and a somewhat graphic description of a dead animal!  
> Enjoy!

“We can’t just leave him!” Mathias shouted at him, for probably the twentieth time. “He will get killed down there!”

 

Berwald had closed his eyes, and sat silently at some seaweed besides the rift. He had ignored Mathias until now, but his constant noise was getting on his nerves. He was forcibly going to make him shut up when Mathias grabbed his shoulders and shook him, while exclaiming nonsense. Berwald had just opened his eyes, and raised his hands when his heart skipped a beat. Or rather, his heart stopped for a moment. Mathias seemed to have noticed it too, as he finally shut up, and his eyes widened. His head spun around, and he looked back at the rift as his wild hair settled in the water. It felt like several minutes of pressing silence, but it was probably only a matter of seconds. Mathias looked back at him, his eyes so wide it was a wonder they didn’t fall out of his skull. “We have to go back down there!” Mathias exclaimed, and before Berwald was able to protest, he was off. Berwald cursed himself for not getting hold of him, and set after him as soon as he had tucked away what they had found.

 

This gave Mathias a huge head start, and even if Berwald raced after him as fast as he could, there was no way he would be able to catch up before they reached the bottom. Even so, he could not let Mathias go down there alone, in case the eel was ready for another meal.

 

He could make out Mathias below him, but beyond that, everything got blurry, and he honestly had no idea what was going on at the bottom. Even if he was focusing on Mathias, he almost crashed into him when he abruptly stopped. He gripped his shoulder, and tried to peer into the blur to see what he was looking at. He could see the basic shapes, but it was dark, and they mostly had the same colour. “What?” he hissed at Mathias, but he seemed stunned. Anxiety, and maybe even fear, began building up in Berwald, as he let go of Mathias and swam closer. As the shapes became clearer, Berwald slowly understood more and more. The reason they had not felt any movements in the water was there simply was none. Except from behind him, as Mathias had finally regained his senses, and swam up to him again.

 

When Berwald saw clearly enough, he did not quite understand the scene. The eel lay sprawled across the seabed, with its head hanging into its home, and did not move an inch. Meanwhile, Lukas was not to be found. “Where is Lukas? He isn’t inside it, is he!?” Mathias whined, and Berwald sighed. “I really have no idea”, he confessed, and that did nothing to help Mathias, but it was the truth. “Well, we have to look for him”, Mathias decided, trying to keep his emotions under control. It seemed to work decently, as Mathias cautiously swam closer to the eel. They had no idea if it was sleeping, dazed or dead. Berwald tried to scan the surroundings while also focusing on the images Mathias sent him. “I can’t see any sign of hi-“, Mathias said, but then stopped. Berwald sent him confusion, and the image Mathias sent in return would burn itself into his memory. The eel’s head was deformed and scales had fallen off in several places. The eyes was almost completely glazed over by a white mist, and sunken into its skull, and where the teeth was not covered in blood, one could see how they were clearly miscoloured. “I did not need to see that”, Berwald sent, and Mathias excused himself. “Sorry, it’s just shocking. What the hell happened?” Mathias asked him, but Berwald had no answer for him. Mathias explained that, except the blood, there was no trace of Lukas in the eel’s mouth. About then, Berwald noticed something strange. “Was that bush of seaweed there before?” he asked, as Mathias swam away from the eel, and towards where he was. The bush looked very out of place, since Berwald had never seen its species at this depth, and it was too colourful to be living in such a dark environment. The two of them swam towards it, and Berwald noticed how it was floating upwards, even if there were very little water circulation down in the rift. “How did we not notice such a huge bush of seaweed before now?” Mathias asked, as he prodded at it with one claw. Berwald just shrugged, and got a hold of some of it. It was slightly slimy, but not very tough, as he could easily rip it. Therefore, the two of them began searching through it.

 

The startled cry Mathias let out when they reached the middle startled Berwald for a moment, but then he saw what Mathias found. There, in the middle of the seaweed, he could see Lukas. He seemed okay, but he was on his stomach, so they couldn’t see his face. The two of them got a hold of each of their brother’s arms, and dragged him out of the seaweed. “He looks unharmed! Now, let’s get the hell out of here”, Mathias exclaimed, and Berwald simply agreed. They put Lukas’ arms around their necks, and swam upwards as fast as they could. Even if Lukas was pretty lightweight compared to other merfolk, he was still heavy.

 

When they got up, they returned to where they had been sitting before. They carefully let Lukas down on a smooth, flat rock, and shoved some soft greenery under his head. Then they checked a second time if he was okay. They would not be able to check if he had internal bleedings, or had hit his head, but his pulse and breathing pattern was calm and even. Mathias wanted to try and open Lukas’s eyelids, but Berwald smacked his hand away. “You have claws, you idiot. You’ll tear them”, Berwald said, and it seemed as if a realization dawned upon Mathias. Berwald just shook his head.

 

Then Lukas took a deep, raspy breath, and his gills flared. He tensed up, and his eyes sprang open. He took a grip on Berwald’s bicep and shoulder, and dug his claws into him. Berwald hissed, but kept still as Mathias came to his aid. “Hey Lukas! It’s us! Calm down, bro!” Mathias said, took a grip on Lukas’ head, and forced him to look at him. Lukas’ gaze had flickered, but when Mathias forced him to focus on him, he did. Slowly he calmed down, and his grip loosened. Berwald did not push him in letting go, even if it stung a lot, and he seemed to be bleeding. When Lukas caught the scent, he ripped his gaze away from Mathias, and looked over at Berwald. His face turned into a horrified grimace, and he quickly let go. Berwald bit his lip to keep in another hiss, before he clamped a hand over his bicep. “S-sorry”, Lukas rasped out, and looked away from Berwald. “Don’t worry about it, it’s shallow. How are you feeling?”

“Okay I think. Actually pretty great, considering my wrist should be severely damaged”, he said and looked down at the mentioned wrist. He opened and closed his hand a couple of times, while the other two tried to make sense of what he had said. “So… What happened down there? We felt something really weird, and then came down to find you. The eel seemed dead, and you were hiding in a bush of seaweed.” Mathias explained, and Lukas seemed horrified. “I… Uh…”

“Don’t push him right now, Mat”, Berwald growled, but Lukas shook his head. “Actually it might be something I should have told you a lot earlier”, he said, and before the two others got to say anything, he continued: “I think I might be… Magical? That is the only reason I can see why I survived”, he said, and ducked his head. Berwald had no idea what to say, but he guessed he should try to comfort Lukas. The only other magical merfolk they had heard about were from the old stories or myths, so Lukas had to feel like a freak right now.

 

“Hey, if you’re magical, maybe I am too? Imagine if all three of us were magical! We could blow up anything we wanted!” Mathias exclaimed, and it was obvious he was trying to cheer Lukas up. Lukas looked up, and cracked a tiny smile at Mathias. Berwald just snorted, and Mathias smiled even wider. “Oh yes I would imagine how well it would go if it turned out that Mathias could use magic.” Berwald said, but only to Lukas. “I imagine he would master the hair styling magic first”

This made Lukas smile slightly wider, and Mathias’ brows furrowed slightly. “What did you tell him?” he whined, but Berwald just smirked and didn’t reply. “Tell meee”, Mathias whined, and held Berwald’s shoulders, but Berwald just pushed him away. This somehow turned into a brawl, and Berwald refused to let Mathias come out as the victor. “Mathias, stop. He just made a snide comment about how self-conscious you are.” Lukas said, after a moment of just watching them scuffle.

 

Mathias reluctantly let go of Berwald, with some help from Berwald himself, and made puppy eyes at the two of them. “How could you! I thought we were brothers!” He said, and placed a hand dramatically at his chest. “Brothers wouldn’t be brothers without some fighting”, Lukas said lightly, but his words were true. “Anyways, I think we should move. Our mother must be out of her mind worrying right now.”

“Not to mention furious”, Berwald added helpfully.

“You sure you’re able to swim the entire way back?” Mathias asked, and Lukas nodded. Mathias decided he would take Lukas’ belt, however, and Berwald backed that decision up.

 

*

 

Everything went okay in the beginning, even though they swam slowly. Berwald kept a close eye on Lukas, and it seemed to be going okay. However, Berwald could see how he gradually fought more and more to keep a neutral expression. His movements became jerky, and Berwald was about to suggest that they take a break when Lukas’s head dipped, and he stopped moving altogether. Berwald quickly got hold of him, and Mathias was right behind him. “Lukas? Can you hear me?” he exclaimed, and tried to reach out to him mentally. “No good. He fainted.” Berwald said, and looked over at Mathias. “We should have realized that something like this would happen. The idiot is way too secretive about how he feels”, Mathias grumbled, and they carried him the same way they did when they had lifted him out of the rift.

 

Luckily, they were not too far away from home, and the moment they came into familiar waters they felt the presence of one very familiar and very angry merman. “Oh hey Ludwig!” Mathias exclaimed with a nervous laugh when the large merman came into line of sight. The frown on his face told them that they were in for a scolding they would not forget any time soon. “Where have you been!? Do you know how worried you have made your mother!? If it is another one of your stupid adventures, I swear I will- What is wrong with Lukas?” Ludwig interrupted himself, when he saw the unresponsive Lukas hang between his brothers. His expression turned from furious to slightly worried and confused, and back to angry when Mathias began speaking again. “Long story short, he almost got mauled by the old eel. Don’t worry, it’s probably dead now”

“You went outside the borders to fight the eel!?”

“Actually, we went out to loot its ho-“

“I don’t care what you intended to do! Your method of doing it was completely wrong! Get him to Elizabeta, and then father will have a talk with all three of you afterwards.

“Yes sir!” Mathias exclaimed, and dragged his brothers along with him. “Sorry”, Berwald mumbled as they swam past Ludwig.


	3. Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New characters!  
> Folkert = Germania  
> Gilbert = Prussia  
> Basch = Switzerland  
> Elise = Liechtenstein  
> Künstler = Kugelmugel
> 
> And one OC. If you are very against OCs, I advise you to turn back, as I will have to use some simply to tie everything in the story up neatly, and there simply aren't enough Hetalia characters to fit everywhere. I won't become too focused on them, but I hope you understand why I add them ^^  
> Enjoy!

When Lukas returned to consciousness, the first thing that happened was that a groan escaped his lips. It was an involuntary action closely followed by him trying to open his eyes, only to quickly shut them when the light assaulted his eyes. However, his eyes fluttered open when someone clasped both their hands to the side of his head, and tried to reach him through a connection. His vision needed time to adjust, but he could make out something hanging over him, with a light source lighting it up from behind. He did not realize he had to actually open up to a connection before the unknown one began demanding his attention by knocking on his mental walls.

 

When he let it in, he immediately recognized it. “Hello Lukas, how are you feeling?” a calm voice asked him, but he knew she was worried. She had all right to, as by all accounts, he should be dead. “Hi, Elizabeta. I am feeling okay, how about you?” he asked casually, trying to gloss over the fact that he felt as if someone had removed half of his brain, and then let him spin around in a whirlpool for a couple of hours. His sight had returned to a somewhat normal state, and he could see the woman leaning over him, checking to see if he was responsive. Lukas sent her a picture of what she looked like hanging over him, which made her lift an eyebrow. “So you can see me? That is good. You have to be honest with me here when I ask you questions, ok?”

 

Lukas spaced out for a moment, but before she did anything else, he caught himself, and replied. “I will”, and then wriggled free from her grip on his head. He looked around, to find himself in Elizabeta’s cave where she and her mother took care of the ill. It was clean, and lighted up by glowing, white jellyfish, who also served to filtrate the water for nourishment. “Hey! Lukas, I need you to focus on me, so I can check if you’re okay!” Elizabeta said, and tapped him on the forehead with a carefully trimmed claw. He looked over at her, and pouted. “Don’t look at me like that, young mister! It’s you who got yourself in that trouble, so it’s your own fault you have to go through this!” she scolded, and caught his chin between her thumb and index finger, forcing him to look at her yet again. “I feel fine, I swear. Just do whatever tests you have to, and see yourself” he grumbled, but Elizabeta didn’t answer, and just continued with the procedure.

 

The procedure took a lot longer than Lukas would like, and involved him having to let Elizabeta in to have a look in his mind. It was both awkward and a lot more intimate than he liked, but Elizabeta insisted that she had to do it, or else she would not let him go. It wasn’t that she could not just force her way in, but that could be damaging, and it was prohibited unless absolutely necessary.

 

When she was finally finished, she instructed Lukas to stay put, before she swam out of the cave. While she was gone, Lukas managed to push himself up into a sitting position with only minor struggles. When Elizabeta returned, she returned together with his family. Lukas immediately opened his mind to them, and felt the wave of their emotions hit him. Mathias was the first one to attack him and wrap him in a hug, before babbling about how afraid he had been, and how he would never do anything like that again, and it quickly turned into meaningless ranting about how sorry he was. Lukas assured him he was okay, and pointed out how Mathias would probably never stop doing stupid stuff, before he gently pushed him off. He sees Berwald and their mother, Frid, right behind Mathias, letting him finish his ranting before they approach as well. Frid asks Lukas how he is feeling, and Lukas answers her the same way he answered Elizabeta, neutral and maybe a bit distant. She furrows her brows and demand that he answers truthfully, as she easily sees through his lie. He sighs, and tells her that he actually feels somewhat dizzy still, and very tired. “As expected. I hope all three of you learned not to do something as ridiculously stupid, or you might lose a fin next time!” she exclaims, and shakes her head disapprovingly. “I don’t think you even realize how scared I was. Here you two bring back your unconscious brother, and claim to have been in direct contact with that grumpy, old monster”, and this time it is directed towards Berwald and Mathias, but she turns to Lukas immediately afterwards. “And you, dear, aren’t even truthful about how you feel when you wake up? That alone is enough to make me worried! Luckily, Elizabeta found it to be only exhaustion!”

Silence fell upon them as the three brothers hunched their shoulders and avoided their mother’s angry gaze. Then she sighed, and pulled Lukas into a tender and warm hug. “At least you’re okay, but please don’t do anything that risky again, ok? That goes for all three of you”, she said, and released Lukas before she looked at all three of them in order with a stern expression. They nodded quickly, and she smiled.

 

Then Lukas remembers the pendant, and his hand quickly shoots up to his neck in search of it. “Where did our stuff go? Where is the pendant?” he asked, and he notices that his mother frowns, but she quickly stops after realizing what she is doing. “It is most likely with Folkert, along with everything else you scoundrels brought home with you”, she says, which earns her a small “Hey!” from Mathias, but she smiles and pats him on the head. This is when Berwald first speaks up. “Yes, Folkert took everything with him. We weren’t exactly in a state to keep it for ourselves, especially since we have no idea what they may do.” he says and shrugs. “Not that we would be allowed to keep it anyway. We should have thought of that”

“If we sneak around for a bit when he’s not looking, we might be able to find out where he stashes his treasures”, Mathias pointed out, with a mischievous grin on his face. “And in the middle of the night we will steal all his treasures, and he will have no idea where it went”, Berwald played along with a tiny smirk. “And then we will hide it on our own secret spot where he will never find it again, and we will be the mightiest mermen of them all”, Lukas finished, clearly amused, but not smiling like the other two. He could still feel an afterthought of his earlier exhaustion coming back to get him. “Shame on all of you!” Frid exclaimed, surprised by their conversation, which they had also _accidentally_ shared with their mother. There was a humorous undertone to it, which meant that she was not actually mad at them.  “Don’t worry, mom! We will share with you too!” Mathias laughed, and that earned him a smack on the head. Mathias’ spirit didn’t waver, though, and Frid just sighed. “You crazy, crazy boys. I’ll be lucky if I die before you!”

“Mother, do you think there is a possibility of me getting the pendant back?” Lukas broke in, and waited for her surprise to pass. “Well…” she begun, clearly not certain about her words. “Maybe. I think you will have to ask Folkert very nicely.” Lukas nodded, and thought about it. How long would it take before Folkert forgave them? He probably wouldn’t ever forgive them, but maybe he would at least let them have some of it back? He had almost been able to pry the pendant open earlier with his claws, and now he felt an urge to try again.

 

“About that”, Mathias says with a nervous little laugh, and scratches the back of his head. “Folkert would like to have a little “chat” with us. Heh, I wonder how mad he will be.” Before anybody gets the chance to reply, however, Elizabeta burst in, and demanded everyone’s attention through the connection. “Visiting time is over! It is about time you let Lukas rest some more, and he will see you tomorrow. Now get out!” she said, and pointed to the exit with determination painting her face in a familiar colour. Frid, Berwald and Mathias reluctantly moved, but Frid put a hand at Elizabeta’s shoulder, and most likely thanked her for helping Lukas before she swam out.

 

*

 

“Your mother is a great person, I hope you realize”, Elizabeta said later, while Lukas was trying to fall asleep. “I know”, he mumbled, and no more words were exchanged between them. It did not take long before Lukas was lulled to sleep by the calm current and comforting silence.

 

*

 

Elizabeta finished her last examination, before she gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder, and sent him off. Lukas rubbed his shoulder for a bit, as he slowly made his way out of the cave.

 

The sight that greeted him was a bit strange, but he had found Gilbert doing a great deal weirder things. He was just floating there, holding his hands to his face, turned away from Lukas. He just watches the merman as he floats in one place, and after what felt like a minute, he took his hands from his face, and swiftly looked around. When he noticed Lukas, he quickly tried to open a connection to him, and Lukas let him. “Found you!” he burst out, and Lukas tilted his head in confusion. “Oh, you aren’t in on the game, are you? We were just playing hide-and-seek!”

“I see. Please carry on, and I’ll stay here and watch”, Lukas said, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth when Gilbert saluted and swam off. If he would have to guess, Mathias would be hiding somewhere he thought was a great hiding spot, but was actually obvious. Therefore, he was not surprised when the first one that got back to where Gilbert had stood and counted was indeed Mathias. “Oh hi bro!” Mathias exclaimed when Lukas opened a connection between them, and Mathias looked around for him for a moment. Lukas had settled on a cluster on short, green seaweed, and a stone formation partially hid him. Mathias swam over, and settled himself close, but not under the formation. “Hey there! You look great! You might want to clean your scales again soon, though!” Mathias chitchatted, and Lukas became aware of how he looked. His hair was a mess, and his fins and tail had seen better days. “Whoa, that wasn’t meant as an insult or anything, I was just-“

“No insult taken. I would have noticed it myself sooner or later anyway, but sooner is better”, Lukas mumbled, and dully tried to comb his hair with a hand. It was much longer than it should be, especially considering he was training to be a fighter, and should not have hair the enemy could get a hold of easily. However, Lukas liked having long hair, and if it got annoying, he could just put it up in a ponytail. Problem solved. Berwald’s hair was short enough, and Lukas didn’t even want to start on Mathias’ hair. It was beyond their comprehension why Mathias would want his hair to be a spiky mess, but that was how he rolled.

 

Lukas was genuinely surprised when Ludwig swam down towards where they were, seemingly disappointed with himself. Probably because he had joined in such a childish game, even if he strived to be grown up and mature. “Oh hi Ludwig! Over here!” Mathias beamed at Ludwig, and waved when Ludwig began looking around for them. When he found them, he came towards them, but settled himself at a respectable distance. “I see you were dragged into the game too. I am surprised. You wouldn’t usually do something like this”, Lukas teased, but Ludwig either didn’t notice the teasing undertone, or simply didn’t care. “Yes I was. I blame it on Elise and her impeccable puppy-eyes”, he said gruffly, and Mathias laughed. “Hey look on the bright side; you weren’t the worst this time! It seems you have finally surpassed my excellent hiding skills!” Mathias joked, and Lukas had to roll his eyes. Ludwig just shook his head, and looked back to where he came from. Basch had just made an appearance, but he already saw where they were. Both Ludwig and Mathias weren’t exactly small, and they both had flaring tail patterns. “Hello Basch. I am surprised you were found this early”, Lukas said, and nodded as Basch settled down by them. “My hiding spot weren’t exactly as tactical as I would hope this time around”, he replied with his usual serious tone, and looked Lukas up and down. “You look a bit tired”, he pointed out, and Lukas shrugged. “Life has been a bit rough lately”, and with that he let Mathias take over the conversation.

 

After some time Berwald came too, and the five of them sat around for some time before Ludwig suggested the three of them went to see Folkert. He pointed out it was better to get it over with quickly, rather than torment themselves with thoughts of what he might have to say. After he had said this, Gilbert returned and asked if any of them had seen Elise or Künstler. None of them had, and it was easy to see how a fragment of anxiety crossed Basch’s face, but it wasn’t anything more, because Elise was notoriously good at hiding. Ludwig suggested that he and Basch helped Gilbert looking as the three brothers got up and were about to swim away. “Might as well”, Gilbert said, and shrugged as Mathias, Lukas and Berwald swam past him. “Good luck guys! Dad is really grumpy because of what you did!” Gilbert bellowed after them, and Ludwig shook his head as Gilbert laughed. The three pretended as if they had not heard Gilbert, but they all felt a slight tinge of dread sneak up on them. Folkert could be menacing when he was mad. 


	4. Returned

When they arrived outside of Folkert’s resting space, he had already situated himself at a large stone pillar, and it looked as if he was waiting for them. They closed in slowly to begin with, but when he looked at them with an expression of impatience, they speeded up. Folkert raised a hand to signal for them to stop, before he looked them in the eyes one by one.

 

“So you did something meaningless again, didn’t you?” he asked, but they knew he already knew. “First, I want to point out how stupid you are for challenging the eel at all. Especially on home grounds. There is a reason why we leave it alone. Yet, one of you get the bright idea that you should try to take it head on”, he snarls, and scowls at Mathias. “And the rest of you follow. I really thought you had your intelligence intact, but I am having second thoughts.”

Before any of them get to protest, not that they would, Folkert continues his scolding: “Secondly, why would this tribe ever benefit from getting their hands on the pearl? We have absolutely no use for it, as we have no one who can make use of its so-called magical abilities. Those died a long time ago. If it is known that we possess the pearl, however, we will not be left alone. Many other tribes out there would love to get their hands on it, even if they wouldn’t be able to use it, Maybe for the same senseless reason you brought it here. As a nice little bonus,” and now his fury was coated with a deadly thin layer of ice, “if the eel really is dead, then you have just opened up its home for everyone who wants to get their hands on the ancient relics that can be found down there. Do you have any idea how long that eel, and its predecessors, have guarded those relics? Have it ever crossed your mind why? Someone threw them in there for a reason, usually because of their destructive effect or their gruesome backstory.”

Lukas imagined the locket having a gruesome backstory. He just couldn’t bring himself to imagine that it had ever done real damage to anything or anyone. He hadn’t even felt the slightest tinge of magic from it. However, there could be something gruesome inside it. He wouldn’t know unless he opened it, which he wouldn’t if Folkert didn’t give it back.

“Finally, did you ever think about what might happen if any of you actually died? I hope you do realize that that was a possibility. You might actually all have died. What do you think would happen to this tribe if three of it’s youth died, not to mention how your mother would react. I am sure your mother have already scolded you for what you did, but it enrages me too, hearing how you completely disregarded her. She have already lost more than anyone should ever have to, and she doesn’t need to lose you too. Have I made myself clear?” The three brothers nodded meekly.

 

The silence that settled when Folkert was done was unsettling, but Folkert didn’t seem like he was in the mood to break the silence himself.

“So… What is the punishment?” Mathias asked feebly, with a nervous laughter. Lukas prepared himself for the worst. There was no saying what Folkert would say, but it would probably not be very pleasant. However, Folkert didn’t look very mad anymore, rather, he looked disappointed, and maybe a bit deflated. “I have no punishment to give you. I hope that the fact that Lukas nearly died will scare you enough to think twice next time. Unfortunately, something tells me that it won’t stop you completely.” Folkert was now seemingly finished with talking with them, but they weren’t sure if it was their queue to leave. “May we leave now?” Berwald asked politely, and his mental walls only wavered slightly, mostly covering what he was feeling. “You and Mathias may leave, but I would like to have a word with you Lukas”, and as he said that, Folkert looked Lukas directly in the eyes. The elder’s piercing green eyes nailed him to the spot. “What does he want with you?” Mathias asked him concerned, but Lukas answered with his own confusion without breaking eye contact with Folkert. “Get going. Lukas will catch up with you later”, Folkert barked at the two others, and broke eye contact with Lukas to glare at them. Lukas glanced over at them in time to see Berwald take hold of Mathias’ arm, and drag him away.

 

Folkert and Lukas watched them leave, and when they were out of sight, Lukas turned back to Folkert. He kept on looking at where the other two had left as he spoke. “The pendant you wore when you came back… Do you know anything about it?”

Lukas shook his head, as he didn’t know anything about it. This seemed to make Folkert’s frown deeper, and for a moment he seemed lost in thought before he caught himself. “I assume you found it at the same place as you found everything else?” he asked, and glanced over at him as Lukas confirmed it. Folkert nodded slightly, and looked away from him again.

 

“Was there anything else?” Lukas asked, as he really wanted to leave. Folkert swam off the pillar, and towards something on the seabed behind it. Lukas tried to look around it, but Folkert quickly returned, with the pendant in his hands. Lukas looked at him in surprise as Folkert held it out for him. “I think you should have it. It belonged to your father, therefore it is not mine to claim”

Lukas gingerly accepted it as Folkert handed it over. He looked up at him, as a million questions formed in his mind, but he had no idea which one he should ask first. “Now go. Your brothers are waiting for you.”

With that, Folkert simply turned around and swam away. Leaving Lukas with his questions.

 

*

 

“Hey Lukas! How did it go? What did he ask you about?”

The moment he couldn’t see where he had come from anymore, his brothers ambushed him. Mathias were barraging him with questions as soon as he opened up to them, but he caught himself when Berwald flicked the side of his head. “Oh! Um, sorry. Do you wanna talk about it? _Can_ you talk about it?”

“Sure. I got the necklace back”, Lukas shrugged, acting indifferent, while not meeting Mathias’ excited eyes. “Cool! Why? Is there something special about it?”

“I guess there is. Folkert said it belonged to someone he knew. He didn’t tell me much about it”

“Did you get a name?”

“Mathias”, Berwald growled.

“Haha, fine. Is that really all he said? He didn’t give off any weird vibes either?”

Lukas shook his head. “No, his vibes seemed like they usually are. How about we swim back to the others?” he asked, but without waiting for them as he began swimming. He looked back for them, and they were quick to follow. Therefore, they slowly swam towards where they had been playing hide-and-seek earlier, accompanied by a small school of fish. Mathias begged for more answers from Lukas, and demanded to know why he hadn’t asked Folkert if they could have the other things back. Lukas gave him some vague answers, since he would see right through his lies. This left Mathias dissatisfied, but he didn’t push the matter since Berwald told him to stop. Lukas was very thankful for Berwald. He always seemed more perceptive than Mathias. It might also be that Mathias just got very excited and carried off, but he got carried off most of the time, so any talent of that sort didn’t get to display itself all that often. Lukas knew that he meant well, however. 

 

*

 

“But before it even had the chance to turn around and bite me with its vile, rotten teeth, I spun it around by the tail, and hurled it away into- Oh hello! How did it go? How many years of slave labour do you have to serve?” Gilbert had noticed their arrival, and laughed at his own joke. “Oh don’t worry about us, darling.” Mathias countered, with a toothy grin. “Your father let us go without even the smallest punishment!”

The cocky grin on Gilbert’s face morphed into disbelief, and that was all Mathias needed to continue with his ridiculous banter. “It’s called charisma. Maybe I should teach you some?”

Gilbert looks completely taken aback, maybe offended even. “As if I need a lesson in charisma! Kid, it was I who taught you!”

At this point, everyone was watching what was playing out, and the reactions varied between Elise hiding a giggle behind her hands and Ludwig’s stone face of “I have given up on you a long time ago”.

“Yeah right. When was the last time you successfully got yourself a girl with that _amazing_ charm of yours?”

“If you haven’t noticed, there aren’t exactly that many women around here, and I would like to see the one you bewitched.”

“Sure, she’s right here!” Mathias snickered, and quickly snuck an arm around Berwald’s waist, and dragged him closer. “Or what do you say, _Bertha_?”

“If you ever call me that again, I will personally ensure that you wake up tomorrow, one step closer to being able to call yourself Mathilda”, Berwald snarled so dangerously that Lukas considered that he might actually do it for a moment. Mathias just winked at him.

It was around this point that Elise lost it, and had to hunch over in her giggling fit. Gilbert was also laughing, and Lukas noticed how most of them was at least smiling slightly. He caught himself doing that exact thing, but couldn’t be bothered to put on an indifferent mask again.

 

When they had all calmed down, Mathias and Gilbert started up a childish and completely unserious debate about which fish looked the coolest, and got helpful input from the others around them. Lukas had almost no interest at all in their ridiculousness, and settled down. He remembered how he was clutching the necklace in his hand, and brought it up to look at it. He didn’t notice how Elise leaned closer to look before she let out a fascinated “Oooh”. This startled Lukas out of his train of thought, and he looked over at Elise. “Oh hello Elise”

She pointed at the locket, and looked up at Lukas with wonder in her eyes. “That necklace is very pretty. May I look at it?” she said and held out a hand, not demanding, but merely asking nicely. Lukas thought about it for two seconds. On one hand, this was Elise, and she would probably be very gentle with it, and be very nice about it, on the other hand, what if it actually broke? No, the chance of that happening was almost zero. Also, Basch was glaring at him, daring him to disappoint his sister. “Here you go”, Lukas sighed, giving in to Elise’s cute charm. She smiled happily as she cupped the locket in both of her hands, and turned slightly away from Lukas as she inspected it. Künstler was quick to lean over and look too, and the two of them had fun with turning it and checking if it reflected light in the water. Lukas hears Künstler mumble something about the locket being “artistic”, but most of his attention have diverged back to the discussion, which now seemed more like a fight. Mathias was laughing madly, Gilbert was making over-the-top gestures and Berwald was sitting there, arms crossed over his chest, with the slyest smirk playing on his lips. Lukas guessed that Berwald had used his snarky, subtle sass just to agitate Gilbert.

 

Before Lukas knew it, Gilbert had thrown himself at Berwald, and they were brawling like the idiots they were. It was a wonder that Ludwig didn’t immediately stop them, but it seemed like Ludwig thought Gilbert deserved what was coming for him when Berwald held him in a headlock. Lukas honestly couldn’t care less that they were battling, and only watched in slight amusement. Basch seemed to be keeping an eye on the brawl, but also on his sister and Künstler.

 

The match was very even, because even if it seemed like Berwald had more upper body strength than Gilbert, Gilbert had a much longer tail. The match wasn’t overly long, however, because Ludwig stopped them the moment they drew blood.  It seemed for a moment that Berwald had managed to cut himself on one of Gilberts fins, but he brushed it off as one of his wounds that reopened. Gilbert asked him how he got them, and commented on how they looked like claw marks. Berwald looked over at Lukas, as if he is asking for permission, and Lukas just shrugged.  What bad could it do? It wasn’t as if he did it on purpose.

 

Right before Berwald was finished explaining, there was a tiny clicking sound, and Lukas didn’t think about it before Elise let out a startled cry. “Whoa, who’s that? She is a masterpiece!” Künstler remarks exited, and Lukas’ head whipped around to look at them.  He quickly pushed away the hair in his face as he leaned closer to see what they were making a fuss about.

 

When he realized what had happened, a small “Oh” escapes his lips. Elise had opened the locket. She quickly handed it back to Lukas, who almost dropped it in shock. This belonged to his father? But there was a picture of a human woman in it! Also, there seemed to be a small child sitting on her lap. On the picture, she seems a bit fat, but she is definitively beautiful. Her hair is even longer than Elizabeta’s, and it is impossibly fair, but not completely white. Then Lukas realized that she couldn’t be fat, as her wrists were very thin, and the same with her neck and face. Was she pregnant?

 

It seemed that the centre of attention had moved from Gilbert and Berwald and over to Lukas, because suddenly the others were hanging over him. Or rather, Mathias was hanging over him, and the other were keeping a respectful distance, but still trying to see. Lukas wanted to press it against his chest, and refuse to let Mathias see, but he knew that Mathias wouldn’t stop nagging him until he let him see it. Therefore, he grudgingly lifted up the open locket, and turned it around so everyone could see it.

 

It was silence for a moment, but then Mathias decided it was a great time to open his mouth. “Hey, that kid looks kinda like you! It even has that curl that you always have. Maybe you’re secretly a human?” Mathias laughed at his own ridiculousness, but Lukas only frowned and turned the locket towards himself again. “What a ridiculous concept. How many merfolk have you heard of that were also human?” Ludwig asked sharply, and Basch nodded slightly in agreement. However, when Lukas looked closer at the small picture, he saw how the child did indeed look like him. It had lighter hair, but he had been told that hair usually became lighter when you dried it. It had the same eye colour as him, and almost the same skin colour. However, the child had feet, and Lukas was very sure that he hadn’t. “I don’t think it is me. It can’t be.” Lukas stated, and closed the locket a bit harder than he had to. It was an uncomfortable voice crawling around in the back of his head asking _but what if it is you?_ When he looked up from the accessory, everyone looked nervously at him, or couldn’t bring themselves to look at him. Mathias and Berwald looked especially worried, which confused Lukas.

 

Why should they be worried? They should know better than anyone that he couldn’t be a human! That was what he told himself that night as he tried to sleep, however the little voice doubting him kept coming back to haunt him. The locket had belonged to his father, which meant he had been in contact with humans. The golden rule for all merfolk was they should never seek out humans, as they were the reason there were so few left of them. Was this human the reason he was dead? However, if she were, how had he been able to get the locket from her, and how had he gotten it into the eel’s den? When they had asked their mother what had happened to their father, she had only told them that he had disappeared, and as they grew older, they slowly realized what that actually meant.

But what did this woman and child have to do with him?

This question haunted him even after he fell asleep, and Lukas slept very poorly that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anything confuses you, feel free to ask! I'm here to help! ^^


	5. Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Mathias' POV!
> 
> New character:  
> Roderich = Austria

After Lukas got his necklace back, it had been all he had cared about. Matias had tried to reach out to him a couple of times, to invite him to join him and the others, but Lukas had either refused or not actually joined in, just floating there as a shadow. Then he would escape as quickly as possible, and the whole thing would start over again. It was frustrating, really. Mathias didn’t want to push him, but Lukas didn’t usually act like this. Most of the time he had no problem with joining all of them, maybe even throw a snarky comment or two into the conversation, but now he was distant and cold, and Mathias hated it. The thing was, Lukas always seemed cold and distant to those who didn’t know him, because even if he felt emotions, he wasn’t the best at displaying nor communicating them, much like Berwald. However, Mathias had no idea how to tell what Lukas felt anymore, and it made fear crawl up his spine and laugh silently in his ear.

 

When he issued this fear to Berwald, he discovered that he felt slightly worried too. It wasn’t normal nor healthy for Lukas to seclude himself like he did, so the two of them decided that they would confront Lukas about it. However, they had no idea where he was at the moment, and they weren’t sure if they would find him right now, because he was probably swimming somewhere far away from the colony centre, or he had hid away in a dark corner only he knew about. Berwald suggested they waited for a while to see if it got any better, and even if Mathias was impatient, he realized that Lukas might want a bit of time to figure this out. It did seem like what he had said earlier about the boy in the picture looking like him shook him quite heavily, as if the painfully ugly truth just smiled and waved at him and then he realized he was looking at his own reflection.

 

The one thing that bothered Mathias the most, however, was something only he knew of. He hadn’t told this to either of his brothers, and he didn’t know if they knew, but it was a miracle he even still remembered it. He would never question if Lukas was his brother or not, because he most definitively was, however he still remembered that day when their father brought him home. He had been so tiny, so he had clung to their father, seemingly both shy and terrified. Their mother had taken him in without questioning it at first, not wanting to scare the toddler by shouting and being mad the first time she met him. However, there were a period almost right afterwards when their mother had been furious at their father. He remembered this because the fact that his mother was mad at his father and that he had no idea why had petrified him.

 

Then she stopped being mad, and just seemed tired. Mathias couldn’t remember for how long she was like that, but somewhere during that time their father had disappeared. It had left them alone with their mother, and against all odds, she had taken care of them all three. She never mentioned their father again, and when they tried to bring it up, she didn’t want to answer. Not that they did ask about it after they saw how sad it made her, but Mathias still wished he knew the whole story.

 

“I’m sure we’re not the only ones that are slightly worried”, Berwald said, dragging Mathias back to the real world and out of his thoughts.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?” Mathias asked, as a small part of him still lingered in his thoughts.

“You saw mother when Lukas came home yesterday. How she assured him that she loved him no matter what and that he could talk to her about anything that troubled him. I believe she is trying to reach out to him.” Berwald explained, glancing at Mathias to ensure he had understood.

“Oh, yeah, I remember that”, Mathias said, nodding. Lukas had assured Frid that he would tell her if anything was wrong, but in the end they all saw how he was just trying to avoid the entire ordeal altogether. Then he had went to sleep, and they followed his example. When Mathias woke up the next day, Lukas was already gone. Him and Berwald had tried to go on about their day as if nothing unusual was happening, but when Lukas hadn’t showed up for combat practice, that was when Mathias had begun to really think about it. He had been showing up for practice up until now, so what if something had happened to him? When he told Berwald about this, the merman furrowed his brows, and seemed to think about it. “Huh, I didn’t notice that. Maybe I was too busy sparring with Ludwig. You don’t think anything serious happened to him?”

“Well, I don’t know for sure, but I think we should check it out to be sure. He might just have fallen asleep somewhere, even though I doubt it, but if something have happened I believe it is best if we find him”, Mathias said, and Berwald nodded in agreement.

“We don’t have to do anything else today, so if you could stay with mother, I’ll go look for him. He is probably inside the border limits”, Mathias stated, making sure that his tone left no room for discussion. If this was very serious, Mathias didn’t want Berwald to get hurt. It might be some stupid big-brother complex, but he genuinely cared for both of his brothers, not to mention that their mother would never forgive them if they repeated the stupid experience from earlier. Luckily, Berwald didn’t complain nor disagree, but just nodded again, solemnly. “Either that or he have swam closer towards the shore”, Berwald answered, and Mathias thought he had a point. No one owned that territory, so merfolk could technically traverse there as much as they wanted. However, the reason to why no one had claimed that area as their territory was that those large human contraptions that floated on the surface showed up there every now and then, and those had the capability of killing both fish and merfolk alike.

“Then it’s settled. If mother asks, tell her that I am just out with Gilbert. No reason to worry her yet”, Mathias said, and the two of them gave each other an understanding nod before they parted ways.

 

*

 

Mathias had searched through their entire territory, yet he hadn’t felt Lukas presence once. He had, however, come over Basch and Roderich in an intense argument about something. Those two always quarrelled with each other, or so it seemed, so Mathias wasn’t very surprised. He had tried to sneak around them, but he suspected that Basch had noticed him, as they had went completely still in the water right before Mathias had managed to get away. Oh well, it wasn’t like he could overhear what they had talked about anyways.

 

When he was a safe distance from them, he stopped to think about the situation. He had used quite some time to look for Lukas, in vain, so either Lukas had gone home or he was really stuck in a situation somewhere. Going home was not an option, as his mother wouldn’t let him go, and rather sent an adult out to look for Lukas. Therefore, he began swimming towards the border, which would lead him to the more shallow waters.  He hoped that Lukas wasn’t stuck in another clan’s territory, or else there would be nothing anyone could do for him, except maybe Folkert. The relationship between the clans were tense, to put it mildly. If Lukas was caught in another clan’s territory, he would most likely be captured or killed on-sight.

 

Mathias tried to keep his mind off the possibilities, and rather try to stay positive. It worked to some extent, but he was still nervous. What would he do if he couldn’t find Lukas here, and how close to the shore would he dare to search? The answer to the first question was easy enough. If he really couldn’t find Lukas, he would have to get back to the tribe to see if he might have returned by himself, and if not, he would have to tell Folkert. What would happen after that he was not sure of, but he had a few ideas. The second question was a bit harder, however. How close to the shore did the think Lukas would go? Not too far, he hoped, because they could be spotted, and they didn’t need a bunch of humans looking for them right now.

 

He had just swam past the forest of lush seaweed before he felt the slightest traces of another merman or mermaid. This shocked him enough to slow him down for a moment. He took a moment to feel the presence, but it was definitively from another of his kind. A small part of him told him to be careful and proceed with caution, but he ignored that in favour of swimming the fastest he could towards where he thought the other one was. It was still too faint to tell who it was, but as he got closer, he got the feeling that they were afraid. This made Mathias strain himself to go even faster, and the feeling of fear got stronger and stronger as he closed in. They had to be in a bad situation if they sent out their feelings to anyone who came close enough, revealing their position while doing so.

 

He could see the merman before he could open a connection, because he was just hanging there in the middle of the water, moving frantically, but unable to propel himself forwards. Mathias wondered if he should slow down before he slammed into him, but the sight before him had confirmed his fears. He could recognize the grey, white and blue tail from a mile away. It was Lukas struggling, as if something was restraining him. He stilled when he saw Mathias however, and immediately tried to open a connection with him. Mathias let him, and what happened next stopped him dead in his tracks. “STOP”, Lukas shouted, sending him pictures of a thin thread in a squared pattern together with the feeling of dread.

Oh, Lukas was trapped in fishing net.


	6. Rush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter switches between three different POVs! Just a heads up ^^
> 
> Also, new characters!  
> Mei = Taiwan  
> Kiku = Japan  
> Yong Soo = South Korea  
> Yao = China  
> Vladimir = Romania  
> Also two unnamed ones. You can try and guess who they are! ;P

Lukas knew it was stupid of him to just swim around like he did, not caring about borders, but he couldn’t help himself. It was hard to be around the others now that he wasn’t sure about himself, and he could see how the others weren’t either. His mother had tried to comfort him, but it hadn’t really helped. The worst part was that his brothers, especially Mathias, constantly bugged him about it, asking him what it was. The problem was that he didn’t have an answer for them. He was upset about the pendant, and what it could potentially mean, but there was something more, and he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was.

 

When he looked around to check where he was, he realized that he was completely lost. He bit his lip, feeling slightly nervous, since unknown territory usually meant that he was inside the territory of another clan. He turned around, and tried to look behind him, but he didn’t recognize the landscape as far as he could see. At the same time, turning around was most likely the best idea. Therefore, he began swimming where he thought he had come from.

 

The area around him was colourful, and even if it was deep below the surface, the seabed provided its own light, with luminescent corals and small animals who tried to scare off attackers by looking as striking as possible, hopefully to appear poisonous. However, Lukas recognized them, and knew that they were completely harmless to anything but the seaweed. The seaweed itself also displayed impressive amounts of colour, from light greens to deep purples and some were even an orange shade of red. Lukas would have admired the scenery if he wasn’t busy with trying to get home.

 

After he gently pushed away a collection of seaweed, Lukas froze in place. Before him sat a mermaid, which he could have sworn did not sit there before. She was turned away from him, and was fixing her hair in some manner, it seemed. She had something frilly and pink stuck to the side of her head, which matched her tail.

 

Lukas broke out of this state when he saw someone else approach. Luckily, this merman was focused on the mermaid, because Lukas’ scramble to get behind the seaweed again wasn’t very subtle. He prayed to the lord of all urchins that they hadn’t heard him, and luckily it seemed to work, because no one came to check on his hiding spot.

 

*

 

Mei had been fixing her hair when she could feel Kiku’s presence. She opened up to him, and she could feel how he was a bit worried, as usual. “Hi Kiku! Was there something?” she asked gently, turning towards the merman, smiling.

“Ah, well, you see… I cannot find Yong Soo. Have you seen him? He has been gone for a while, and Yao wishes to speak with him.” Mei thought about it. She hadn’t seen Yong Soo in a while either. “Maybe he is hiding behind there. Practicing his ninja skills, and everything. I think you have had too much of an influence on him”, she giggled, and pointed at the bush of seaweed that she had heard someone retreat behind earlier. Kiku looked to where she was pointing, and nodded. “I am sorry”, he said, but Mei interrupted him. “Oh don’t worry about it! At least he is much more quiet than before!”

Kiku nodded solemnly, and Mei shook her head. Kiku just took things too seriously sometimes. She didn’t stop him when he swam towards the seaweed, but just as he reached it, a bright and prominent consciousness could be felt, but it came from somewhere else. It was obvious that it had no plans about hiding, and Mei looked confused over at Kiku.

 

Yong Soo appeared when he swam around an overgrown pillar, and both Mei and Kiku opened up to him. He greeted them as energetic as usual before he began chattering about his newest amazing adventure, which was why he had been gone for a while, and he hoped that no one had missed him. “No, but Yao wishes to speak with you”, Kiku said gently, and Yong Soo tilted his head. “And whys that? I swear I haven’t broken a single rule since hyung scolded me last time!”

“He did not seem irritated when I talked to him, so I don’t think he wants to scold you. He told me it had something to do with the other tribes. He believes that something big is about to happen”, Kiku explained calmly, and Yong Soo luckily didn’t interrupt him. “Cool. Well then, I think I will be on my way to go see hyung. Any of you wanna tag along?” he asked, but Kiku shook his head insistently. “Mei said there is someone behind this seaweed. I have to check that first”, he said, and quickly preformed the task. Mei could feel a slight nervousness rise in her. If it wasn’t Yong Soo, then who was it?

 

*

 

When Kiku pushed the seaweed, he registered a movement in the corner in his eye. He snapped his head around just to see an unfamiliar tail take a sharp turn around a rock and disappear. Out of pure reflex, he grabbed for his sword, but that wouldn’t help much when the stranger was fleeing.

“Um, Kiku, is everything alright?” Mei asked, sounding nervous. Kiku swallowed hard and turned towards them. “There was a stranger behind the seaweed. Potentially a spy. Yong Soo, please take Mei back to the others, and tell them about it. We need to catch this intruder, as they might be dangerous”, Kiku instructed in a serious tone. Yong Soo seemed slightly nervous, and revealed such over the connection, but Mei frowned. “What about you?” she asked.

“I’ll follow. Now go and get the others”, Kiku said before he spun around and swam after the intruder.

 

*

 

Lukas had no idea why he hadn’t immediately swam back where he came from, but he suspected that his abrupt retreat was more than enough to grant suspicion, especially if he continued moving. Therefore, he found himself situated in a small depression in the rocky ground, with his tail tucked around him, ready to spring to action if they found him. He held his breath as he felt one of the merfolk coming closer, and was a second from dashing away, but there were no movements in the seaweed above him. He loosened his grip on an innocent oyster after the seaweed didn’t move for the next five seconds, and he couldn’t feel any other abrupt movements around him. Not before what he suspected was another of their kin entered the scene. He had no idea if there was still one right next to his hiding spot, but they were most likely not very far away either way.

 

He was almost lulled into a false sense of security when he felt one come closer rapidly, and he couldn’t stop himself anymore. _He had to get away._ At this point it didn’t even matter to him if they saw or heard him or whatever. He couldn’t get caught.

 

Even after doing several sharp turns and difficult manoeuvres, he could feel a presence frighteningly close when he expanded his mind to search for others. He knew it revealed him, but he had to know if there was anyone after him, which there was. Which meant he couldn’t get into a good hiding spot without getting seen first.

 

He almost crashed head first into a large wall of stone, which he could swear he had never seen before, when he did another sharp turn. He managed to pull himself upwards, but scraped his chest against the uneven and rough rock. The smell of his own blood was very faint in the water, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. The wall before him was enormous, stretching high above him, and to both sides as far as his eyes could see. _Maybe the wall even touched surface? No, that would be ridiculous._ Lukas thought, but before he decided what direction to swim, the presence had caught up with him, and Lukas hastily spun around. He grabbed for his daggers, but remembered how he had lost one of them, and held the only one he had left ready.

 

The figure in front of him seemingly knew about the wall, and didn’t do the same mistake as Lukas. Lukas had to frown, however, because the merman looked around him as if he couldn’t see Lukas, even though he was obviously standing right in front of him, just a few metres away. Was he blind? Most likely not, because how would a blind merman be able to follow him so closely, and _oh whoa, that seemed like a very dangerous blade._

 

The merman that seemed just slightly fragile in the beginning now became very scary as he pulled a long sword out of a holster at his side that Lukas hadn’t noticed before now. It seemed like he felt that Lukas was there, even if he couldn’t see him. As he scouted upwards and to the sides, Lukas had to remind himself to breathe. He slowly swam backwards, but the wall quickly reminded him of its presence. He froze when the merman snapped his head back to where he was standing and looking _directly at him_ , but still didn’t see him. What was it? Could it be his magic? It didn’t feel like it…

 

Then the merman began swimming towards him, closing the distance between them. If he continued much farther, he would bump into him, invisible or not. When he was right in front of him, if not slightly above, the merman reached out a hand, and insufferably slowly stretched it out in front of him. If he continued in this manner, he would touch Lukas’ nose. Therefore Lukas let himself sink, dropping to the ground and watching the merman touch noting but water. Lukas wasn’t going to rely on some outer force to save him.

 

Most likely disappointed with not finding anything, the merman turned around and continued to scan the area. Did he really think Lukas was still here? If Lukas had continued swimming he would have been far away by now, however the merman returned to where Lukas was frozen in place.

 

Lukas was just about to try and swim away when two more merfolk arrived. Both of them had their hair in long braids, one seemingly female and the other male. The female held her hand up, as she was swimming in the front, stopping the both of them. Neither of them could see him, because they didn’t notice him at all, even if he was in plain sight. The one who had originally followed Lukas soon joined up with them, and even if he couldn’t hear them, they were obviously talking. The male with the long braid looked around, and he appeared wary.

 

Lukas thought as he realized. _The water must smell like my blood by now._ He looked down at his chest, and was relieved to see that none of the wounds were anything serious. Mostly his skin was only a bit red and irritated, but it had been torn at several places. He contemplated on touching it, but found no good reason to do so. Therefore he began to slowly drift in the opposite direction of the merfolk, which were now splitting up, most likely to look for him. Why hadn’t they moved from this exact location?

 

He hadn’t come far before a movement caught his attention. It seemed to come from down at the foot of the wall, but that place was just covered with a small, dull patch of seaweed. Yet, it made him curious enough to drop down slightly and look at it. He jolted backwards when a hand shot out of the seaweed. It was moving, and it took him a second to realize it was waving, since the owner of the hand had turned it away from him, making it somewhat backwards. The hand was like his, with webbing, claws and everything, however the claws were completely black. Lukas decided that the smartest thing to do was to proceed with caution, and so he did. He broke off from the wall to swim around the hand in a circular motion, ending up in front of it, but still a safe distance away. He felt a presence beyond the wall of plants that were idly waving back and forth in the water. Then he felt it reach out to him, wanting to open a connection. He was very reluctant about it at first, since he was certain that the hand, which had now retreated, belonged to somebody he had never met before. It became more and more persistent, as if it was impatient, and Lukas decided that he had very little to lose by now.

 

“Ah, finally! I began to think you might want to stay!” a cheerful voice reached out to him, and Lukas was shocked for a moment. The voice had a foreign accent, and Lukas was careful to close his mind so that the stranger could only talk to him. “Oh don’t be like that! Come, I’ll show you the way out!” the voice said, but Lukas’ suspicion only grew. “Why should I trust you?” he questioned, and he swore he could hear his conversation partner sigh. “Well, firstly I am the one who saved you by making you invisible; secondly, you don’t have many options. Once I remove the spell you’ll be completely exposed, and within a couple of seconds you’ll be impaled by an arrow or two”, the other one said, and even if he tried to present it as facts, Lukas felt a teasing undertone. “Tell me your name, at the very least”, Lukas demanded. The stranger laughed before he replied. “Vladimir. What about you?”

“Lukas”, Lukas muttered, not really comfortable with sharing his name. “Very well then Lukas! Glad to meet you, now would you kindly follow me? Warning, it is pretty tight, but the only place where you can get safely to the other side of this wall in quite a radius”, Vladimir chirped, seemingly happy. A hand extended out between the seaweed, and Lukas considered taking it. “C’mon, this magic is beginning to tire me out”

 

Lukas wondered what the hell he had gotten himself into when he grabbed the hand, and were dragged into a small cave behind the seaweed. His back fin folded on reflex, but it still scraped against the roof. The darkness was surrounding him before he knew it, and he couldn’t see anything. He almost panicked when Vladimir released his hand, but steeled himself. He felt Vladimir’s amusement over their connection, and Lukas spat annoyance back at him. “Aw, don’t be like that! I’m right in front of you! There’s not many other ways to go other than forwards either, you just have to drag yourself forwards, since there isn’t much space to wiggle your tail!”

 

Lukas was confused and slightly alienated by the other merman’ choice of words, but he did as he was told, and stretched his hands out to get contact with the walls. He didn’t get to stretch his hands out far, and an uncomfortable feeling of claustrophobia rooted itself in his body. He grasped the rocks, which were surprisingly smooth compared to that of the wall itself. The darkness almost felt chocking around him, and he grasped the walls a little harder than he needed. “Hey, relax, the tunnel isn’t that long. You’ll be out of here before you know it”, Vladimir said, but Lukas didn’t take any of the words to heart, considering Vladimir still had that mocking undertone of his that annoyed Lukas more and more.

 

After that, a silence settled, and Lukas bit the inside of his cheek gently to deal with the claustrophobia. He could feel Vladimir in front of him, but this new method of going forwards was both painfully slow and made his tail itch because of the lack of use. It didn’t help that he had to press all his fins close to his body, yet he somehow managed to scrape them up every now and then. Probably the worst part of it all was when one of his scales got stuck and was ripped loose. It wasn’t particularly painful, but it was very uncomfortable, and made the feeling of being suffocated magnify.

 

He had no idea for how long they had been crawling through the tunnel before Lukas could spot a streak of light break through the roof and light up the tunnel in front of him. His pace sped up dramatically, and he didn’t care that his tail slapped the walls as he desperately wanted to get forwards. When he reached the light, he immediately reached out for it, pressing his hand out of the small hole, as if to reach the light above. However, when he tried to push further, the roof refused to budge. He desperately tried to claw it bigger, but to no avail. An amused hum reached out to him. “Shut it”, Lukas growled, and retracted his arm. From where he was, he noted that Vladimir had moved to behind him. “Oh, I was going to tell you how to get out, but ok”

 

Lukas glared into the dark, just to see two red spots stare back at him. He was less surprised than he probably should be, considering he knew one surprisingly annoying merman with the same eye colour, and still it was intriguing. Lukas sighed, and mentally put his hands up in defeat. “How do I get out?” he asked, voice monotone. “That’s more like it”, Vladimir smirked, and Lukas just raised an eyebrow at him. “The opening you should be able to get through is a bit further down. Good luck”, Vladimir said, suddenly a lot less cheerful. Lukas blinked a couple of times, unsure of what to say. He settled with a simple “Thanks” before he turned around. He noticed their connection close, and soon he couldn’t feel Vladimir’s presence anymore.

 

As he continued dragging himself along the tunnel, he noticed how lonely he felt. The whole chase and meeting Vladimir had taken his mind of what had bothered him, like a refreshing, cold current. Now he was alone with his own mind again, and it put a dampener on his mood, making everything monotone and bland again.

 

Lukas took no notice of the time as he swam along, but saw up through the holes littered in the roof every now and then. Where was he? He guessed he had reached the grey zone, as sand soon began to litter the floor.

 

Lukas had reached such a weird feeling of inner peace when he reached a hole that was large enough for him to swim through, that he just looked up at it for a second. When he actually decided to get out, he had to struggle for a moment, as the part just below where his skin turned to scales almost got stuck. When he was free, he took a moment to look around. The place was vaguely familiar, and when he looked up, he was shocked to see that there wasn’t much of a distance up to the surface. He was definitively in the grey zone, and far into it if the water was this shallow. He decided to begin by swimming towards deeper water.

 

It didn’t take long before he could make out the shape of the wall he had swam under earlier. Had it really been necessary to make the tunnel end up that far away from it? He shook his head, but it wasn’t his design choice so he didn’t have much to say about it. Who knew? Maybe it was supposed to be that way.

 

 _Oh yeah, now I know where I am,_ Lukas thought, and looked at the bed of rocks before him. Him, his brothers and Gilbert had been here when they were smaller, to pick pretty rocks for Elise. Basch had refused to let her go personally, which was probably a smart decision. However, Gilbert and Mathias had promised to bring her some pink and red ones, so Lukas and Berwald tagged along. Lukas saw why she would want them. Their surface was smooth and shiny, and they came in whites, reds, pinks and some were even purple. Lukas picked up one, and wondered if he should bring one back to Elise. Probably. Everyone knew he was gone by now. He knew he should be worried, since they probably were, but he couldn’t bring himself to it. He took a moment to let his eyes dance across the rocks, and one caught his eye. He picked it up and examined it. It was almost white, with dark cracks, even if he couldn’t feel them when he stroked a couple of fingers across the surface. What had attracted his attention, however, was the formation that bloomed out of a spot at the oval rock. It was as if a small volcano erupted from the centre of the rock, and the vibrant pink rippled out from the point in beautiful waves. He held the rock close, afraid to lose it, but felt how the grip in his hand wasn’t as strong as it was before. Lukas felt a small sting of pain as he remembered how the eel had struck his hand, leaving it damaged, but luckily not broken. He pushed the uncomfortable thought away as he quickened up his pace, continuing on his journey home. He knew it would take a while, but at least he knew which direction to travel now.

 

He was at much deeper water, but he kept himself a lot closer to the surface that usual. It was lighter the closer to the surface he was, and even if he had good vision in the dark, he didn’t feel like swimming in the dark. He was swimming quickly to get back as fast as possible, because even if he was in a grey area, other merfolk could attack him in it.

 

Then something appeared in front of him. He squinted a little to see what it was, but didn’t slow down. He didn’t realize what a terrible mistake he had made before he recognized what it was, and tried to twist around in the water in order to stop. It didn’t work, and soon he could feel the thin but impossibly durable threads tearing at his skin. He whispered a curse under his breath, and tried to swim out of the net, but it was clinging onto him, and moving his tail only made the net get a better grip. He stopped trying to swim out of it quite quickly, and instead tried to attack the net directly. However, tearing the net by brute force alone seemed almost impossible, as the net would stretch far before it snapped, and by then it had dug painfully deep into his fingers. The net also tasted disgusting, so biting it was not an option.

 

He then remembered that he had his dagger, and scolded himself for not thinking about it earlier. It took him quite some manoeuvring, considering how tangled into the net he was at this point, and he was just about to get it when he felt a presence trying to open a connection with him. It stopped him dead in his tracks, and a feeling of panic was rising in him. Mathias was coming straight at him and the net. He hurriedly let Mathias in, and shouted for him to stop. Luckily, he came to a halt at a safe distance away from Lukas, but he was still much too close for comfort. A moment of silence passed, both of them unsure of what to say. “Lukas, what happened?” Mathias asked as he slowly swam closer, but Lukas sternly told him to keep his distance. He did not need Mathias to get caught as well. “I swam too quickly, and didn’t realize what was in front of me”, he hissed, and tried to reach for his dagger again. He felt how Mathias wanted to get closer, but Lukas just repeated that he had to stay back.  When he finally grabbed his dagger, he made sure to show it to Mathias so he wouldn’t have to be so concerned. “Look, I’ll just cut it, so I’ll be out soon, but you have to stay back. I don’t want to have to cut you out of this mess as well”, he warned, but just as he was about to cut the first loop apart, something moved. He clutched onto the knife as best he could, but the stone slipped out of his hands, and sank to the bottom. He cursed without realizing that Mathias could hear him, and looked after it for a second, before the movements returned. This time it was much worse. The net was beginning to move, and having seen a net once before, he knew that it wouldn’t be long before he would be pulled to the surface.

 

He quickly returned his full focus to the net, desperate to cut it apart before he was pulled out of the water, but he registered how he was already beginning to move upwards. Mathias had forgotten all warnings Lukas had given him, and was quickly by his side, using his blade to help him. However, it took to much time to just cut a single loop, and the stress building up in them didn’t help the situation at all. As the net began to move faster, Lukas understood that he wouldn’t be able to get out by the time they reached the surface, but he wouldn’t let Mathias be taken with him. Therefore, he dropped his blade, and focused on prying Mathias off the net. As expected Mathias refused to budge, bound by his foolish proudness and loyalty. When Lukas grabbed his hands to get him off, Mathias resisted and kept on trying to cut him loose. Lukas realized that in order to get Mathias off, he would have to break a rule. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t broken rules before, but this one was much more personal.

 

The jolt of pain he felt as he looked up at Mathias’ face almost discouraged him, but he had to do it. The connection between them was strong and open, a result in the trust they had in each other. The water around them became brighter and brighter as Lukas focused.

Then he brought a mental attack upon Mathias.

 

The reaction was instantaneous. Mathias stopped what he was doing, and looked bewildered and hurt up at Lukas. Lukas couldn’t stop. If he did, Mathias would still be able to hang on, and would be taken with him. When he tried to pry off his fingers this time, it was much easier.

 

Lukas watched the intense blue eyes disappear below him as the net ensnaring him pulled him upwards and out of the water.


End file.
